Ashy Prinia
A species of True Prinias Scientific name : Prinia socialis Genus : True Prinias
Ashy Prinia, A species of True Prinias
Botanical name: Prinia socialis
Genus: True Prinias
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Lip Kee Yap , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
These 13–14 cm long warblers have short rounded wings and longish graduated cream tail tipped with black subterminal spots. The tail is usually held upright and the strong legs are used for clambering about and hopping on the ground. They have a short black bill. The crown is grey and the underparts are rufous in most plumages. In breeding plumage, adults of the northern population are ash grey above, with a black crown and cheek with no supercilium and coppery brown wings. In non-breeding season, this population has a short and narrow white supercilium and the tail is longer. They are found singly or in pairs in shrubbery and will often visit the ground. In winter, the northern subspecies, P. s. stewartii Blyth, 1847, has warm brown upperparts and a longer tail and has seasonal variation in plumage. The other races retain summer plumage all year round. West Bengal and eastwards has race inglisi Whistler & Kinnear, 1933 which is darker slaty above than the nominate race of the Peninsula and deeper rufous on the flanks with a finer and shorter beak. The distinctive endemic race in Sri Lanka, P. s. brevicauda Legge, 1879, has a shorter tail and has the juveniles with yellowish underparts apart from a distinct call. 
Size
13 cm
Colors
Brown
Yellow
Gray
White
Feeding Habits
Ashy Prinia, primarily insectivorous, has a varied diet including insects and spiders. It forages actively in shrubs, displaying unique adaptations for gleaning prey. Preferential eating habits or specific feeding times are not particularly distinct for this species.
Habitat
The ashy Prinia thrives predominantly in dry open grassland, open woodland, and various scrub habitats. It commonly resides in bushy environments, such as scrubby grasslands, garden shrubberies, and Lantana thickets, as well as manages to adapt to urban gardens. This species favors the edge of cultivation, secondary growth areas, and bracken-covered hillsides. Geographically, ashy Prinia inhabit areas along the Himalayan foothills and the upper Indus river system, avoiding the drier desert zones. Their range extends eastward into Burma and includes the lowlands and hill regions up to 1800 meters in Sri Lanka.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Behavior
Like most warblers, the ashy prinia is insectivorous. The song is a repetitive tchup, tchup, tchup or zeet-zeet-zeet. Another call is a nasal tee-tee-tee. It also makes a sound like "electric sparks" during its fluttery flight, which is thought to be produced by the wings (however, one author suggests that it is made by the beak). .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0} It is most easily distinguished by the loud snapping noise it makes during flight. How this noise is produced we do not know for certain. Reid was of opinion that the bird snapped its long tail. What exactly this means I do not know. Jesse believes that the sound is produced by the bird's mandibles. I have spent much time in watching the bird, and am inclined to think that the noise is caused by the beating of the wings against the tail. This last is constantly being wagged and jerked, and it seems to me that the wings beat against it as the bird flits about. When doves and pigeons fly, their wings frequently meet, causing a flapping sound. I am of opinion that something similar occurs when the ashy wren-warbler takes to its wings. The non-migratory genus Prinia shows biannual moult, which is rare among passerines. A moult occurs in spring (April to May) and another moult occurs in autumn (October to November). Biannual moult is theorized to be favoured when ectoparasite loads are very high, however no investigations have been made. Prinia socialis moults some remiges twice a year and is termed to have a partially biannual moult, however some authors describe P. socialis socialis as having two complete moults. Birds stay in pairs but roost singly on the branch of a small tree or shrub.
Distribution Area
This passerine bird is found in dry open grassland, open woodland, scrub and in home gardens in many cities. The northern limits of the species are along the Himalayan foothills extending into the upper Indus river system. The species is absent from the dry desert zone of the west of India and extends east into Burma. The Sri Lankan population is found mainly in the lowlands but going up into the hills to about 1600 m.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Cisticolas and allies Genus
True Prinias Species
Ashy Prinia 
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